Hello, my name is worthing and in this guide I will be discussing the wonders of playing gowen in a non faction form. It has been one of my favorite files ever since I started playing alteil and still is to this day. Factions can be pretty straightforward and boring to play sometimes since they don't have a ton of flexibility and options sometimes without rare cards. Sadly I don't see too many rush files that aren't faction oriented to often which is a shame. Lets take a look at the pros and cons of playing gowen rush shall we?

II. Pros and cons

ProsFlexible and will give you tons of options in many situationsMany different and unique units that all play great roles and do a ton of different thingsNo need to rely on having multiple units to make each other strongerA great late game and use for floating spTons of damage you can put to useCan be made from low rarity cards (18 out of 30 cards are starter rarity)

ConsCan be discouraging to play since a ton of match ups require thinking a few turns aheadTons of options can lead to tons of misplaysWhatever you don't like about it?

III. File list (pictures and detailed explanation for cards)

Alright so I have the complete/final version that I really like which is the first picture and will be the file I will be focusing on although it doesn't have too many games played on it since I kept changing things around. The second file is really just for show and to also point out that the deck isn't something to take lightly.

Complete/final version

Smurf account version

Alright so lets take a look at each and every card individually starting with the soul skills and I will explain the purpose and use of them.

Soul skill

https://alteil-login.apocoplay.com/card ... .php?id=52Slot 1 and 2- Asuet: A very good SS that will let you build up sp to raise your sphere level to give your units rank up or make your next 2 soul skill even stronger. The sp can go to using mercenary's action skill as well and will let you constantly push units onto the field as well in the early stages of the game. Great soul skill, recommended in tons of lower level files.

https://alteil-login.apocoplay.com/card ... .php?id=62Slot 3 and 4- Efreet: It might look odd to a lot of people to put him in but I think it is a very underrated soul skill. Dual axe wielder and mercenary get a huge buff from having your sphere level at 5, all of your grimoires get a boost off having a higher gowen level too, other than rapid growth. It just mixes well with the theme of needing a high sphere level in a level 3 file and is easy to access when you need it. Very handy and can end games.

https://alteil-login.apocoplay.com/card ... php?id=441Slot 5- Beast Hunter/ Rivera: Honestly you can put any 3lp soul skill here or even 2lp if that floats your boat. I tend to play all three salamanders nearly half my games and find a soul skill that will get rid of a closed unit to be pretty good, something like allind. Ossray isn't a good replacement because at the end stage of the game you probably will have to use grimoires and might have to kill a low level unit on your opponent's field and it might get revived. The best way to explain why such an ss like Rivera is important is because with 3 salamanders, 2 archer pixies, and Tiere you will lose a ton of lp since you will need to play these cards almost every game and may have to play salamander and archer pixy more than once for the open skills.

Units

https://alteil-login.apocoplay.com/card ... php?id=6263 Man-eating tiger: A level 2 free revive that can be good early game to take out other small units or can be combo'd with Kurina and salamander to kill bigger units. He can be useful at many stages in the game and has a skill that can pressure your opponent into never using slots 7, 8, and 9.

https://alteil-login.apocoplay.com/card ... .php?id=713 Salamander: Staple and very important unit. Can be spammed to get to your soul skills and has 30 attack and 2 range on a level 1 unit which can add up against some files and pressure your opponents field pretty hard if they can't get to him in the early game. The open skill is very useful and should always be taken into consideration since it can get you out of tons of bad situations when used with Asuet SS or your fast and small units that are 10 damage shy from killing a big and threatening unit. I find that this card and knowing when to use it can make or break a game.

https://alteil-login.apocoplay.com/card ... php?id=3363 Mercenary: This guy is pretty much your anti refess card. Folrart guardian is terrifying to see and mercenary can take care of her and other big threats in the early-mid game. He has 2 range so he can sit behind your free revive units and make himself stronger and sometimes unstoppable. He can also pressure falkow players into returning him when it isn't a good time to but really it is the only time they can before he becomes bigger and gains levels. Pretty good card that just doesn't fit in many files.

https://alteil-login.apocoplay.com/card ... php?id=6273 Dual Axe Wielder: The main tank of the file that can also do quite a bit of damage. I find that having 2 beefy, frontline level 3 units works very well (considering those 2 also deal tons of damage). You should have 5 in your gowen sphere a lot by turn 7-8 so he can be very big most of the time and can be very handy. Not too much else to discuss about him.

https://alteil-login.apocoplay.com/card ... php?id=6223 Forest Rhino: The other tank that deals a lot of damage and never stops healing for absurd amounts. He is very useful and doesn't need to rank up to be strong. Pretty versatile unit that could be played on turn 3 or be the last unit you want to play. He is very important and is almost never useless. Another cool thing to note is his action skill punishes units that have to be in the same column to get certain bonuses.

https://alteil-login.apocoplay.com/card ... .php?id=552 Belly Dancer / Kurina: Yep 2. For the longest time I played 3 Kurina and almost never used the third one. I finally decided to test only using two of her and put in EX mercenary girl to fill in for the third copy. In the past 30 games I have never needed a third copy of her since I always play her turn one and she usually lives until turn four or five when you only have two copies. The fact that you generally want the second Kurina to die to get to an Asuet soul skill makes it even more convincing to just use two of her. Her main focus really is to get on the field and kill stuff with her auto and agility in the early stages of the game and to save you a sp with her revival cost....which is zero.

https://alteil-login.apocoplay.com/card ... php?id=6292 Archer Pixy: The open skill is fantastic and lets you break apart combos in bigger files and stops your opponent from playing big end game units as well. The stats are pretty mediocre but having 20hp instantly qualifies her for Tiere's open skill. I highly recommend splashing this in your gowen files.

https://alteil-login.apocoplay.com/card ... php?id=5851 EX: Girl Mercenary: Not as strong as mercenary but heck lets use her anyway. So its a level 1 unit that can be played over and over and over again and again and refunds you the sp everytime she dies. Pretty bad early game since she can't let you get to your soul skill. Every now and then you won't need to get to them so she is ok to play, but more than likely she is a good unit to play around turn 8-30.

https://alteil-login.apocoplay.com/card ... hp?id=18451 Pixy of Fate/ Tierie: Pretty good unit. She can demolish cards like allind if you play her at the right time or can simply be played so your rhino never dies while he is never dying. ever. The action skill is quite practical and can save you from losing LP if you so wish and can make one of your units stronger and rasam free. I suggest putting this in almost every gowen file.

https://alteil-login.apocoplay.com/card ... .php?id=741 Fire Arrow: You will have a ton of sp late game so it can do a huge amount of damage and can let you deliver the finishing blow in clutch situations. Generally its not a great idea to use it early but every now and then you have too.

https://alteil-login.apocoplay.com/card ... php?id=2431 Rapid Growth: Probably not a lot of people like the choice of using this card but I think it is great. It will let you win a crucial agility roll and will get you to enough sp to start grim spamming or spam mercenary's action skill and will allow you to play units for the next few turns as well. I suggest trying it out in the file before jumping to any conclusions.

https://alteil-login.apocoplay.com/card ... php?id=9811 Fireball Breathe- It kinda like fire arrow and ball of flame in one. It can be used as a 2sp fire arrow early or dual hitting grimoire late game. Like all of your grimoires use it when necessary and in rough situations that your units won't be able to handle.

IV. Match ups

Refess files- Probably the hardest sphere to get used to fighting but it can become pretty easy after you get a feel for gowen rush.

BIg refess- Difficulty 8/10: It really does depend how dedicated they are to star dragon and if they have a grimoire to pick mercenary off. Generally they will have 11+lp as well so you never really have the sp to build mercenary up, play archer pixy, and iczer a ton. Basically using efreet to pick full hp star dragons off and other big units will increase your chances of winning by a lot. They will probably expect an assassins SS as well so you can use that to your advantage perhaps and make them use unwanted charity or let a big unit die off in fear of losing the unit and its sp value.

Mid refess- Difficulty 8/10: Early guardian with follow up damage is really a huge pain but if you can bust out mercenary and archer pixy early you can take a huge lead. If you suspect they are using a refess file with mostly level 4+ units you could start kurina->skip->mercenary-> archer pixy. Not much else to this match really. Just try to kill guardian early to make the game easy and watch out for annoying rasam SS.

Solar kingdom (level 3)- Difficulty 5/10: So this should be really easy unless they have some random SS you didn't see coming or open with messala. Early mercenary and rhino are pretty good against this.

Carbuncles- Difficulty 10/10: You lose 90% of the time basically.

Shrine knights- DIfficulty 6/10: This match up can be pretty RNG based in the early game but if you can dodge revival SS and clear the field a bunch it SHOULD be fairly easy to win. I suggest Kurina-tiger-salamander-mercenary-salamander for your opening turns.

Lawtia- Pretty hit or miss. It really depends if they have some anti gowen cards like undeads/lycanthropes. Lawtia is a pretty tricky sphere to play and play against in my opinion just try not to make any mistakes and fall into traps that will force you to lose field presence and sp (like bitter bestiny traps).

Assassins- Difficulty 7/10: A pretty hard file to play against in general. It feels similar to gowen rush in the way that it has tons of options at many given times, on top of that assassins have tons of tricks and ways to make you lose sp so try to constantly invest your floating sp onto the field if you think an SS will take it or other open skills/actions skill/close skill, really the file is loaded with ways of making you lose sp. Just play like a timmy and run everything over again and again.

Dolls- Difficulty 7/10: So command dolls are really durable and can be revived a bunch so the general "blow everything up again and again" is really hard to pull off. Saving your ss will make things a lot easier and focusing down the main damage threats first will save your life. This match can be pretty roll dependent so hope that works out in your favor as well. As for normal dolls, they are played in so many different ways I really don't feel I can say how to play agains a file like that.

EN- Difficulty 9/10: A good old classic match up. Killing eskatia first should be your main concern. Try to keep your range 1 units in row 2 so you can put a sac unit in front of them so fenrir isn't so threatening since he should be the unit that always goes first. Always expect at least 1 assassins SS as well and at least 1 liz SS. Letting EN revive too many units with Liz SS can automatically lose you games so always be aware of that and cards like consuming grudge that let them do that. If you can take out eskatia and riza the match is very winnable.

undeads- Difficulty 7/10: Level 3 undeads are easy to beat unless they have a SS that gives one of them defense. The main problem is the multisphere guys. You basically have to kill EX ancient zombie lord like 10 times and maintain a field at the same time which is pretty hard. Don't expect to win against them unless you win a lot of rolls.

Gowen- Pretty good sphere to play against I think. You can win most of the match ups against the smaller files. You will have some difficulty against big/mid units like most rushes though.

Mercenary nation- Difficulty 5/10: So their are a ton of ways to play mercenary nation but most of them are easy to beat. Don't forget you have the real mercenary and will smash their faces. Generally they open pretty slow and you will out swarm them early and pick off a few key level 3 units as well which helps a ton. Their will be some rolls invovled and defense stacking may happen which is a real pain. You should be able to beat most mercenary nation files I would imagine.

Monsters- DIfficulty 6/10: One of the few files that can out field you plus their field will almost always be stronger if you let them get away with it. Pinpoint natasha with you SS early and you can make the game a lot easier on yourself. Trying to backlash rhino as well will make things a lot easier assuming you have field advantage. They will be tight on sp at the beginning so if you kill natasha a bunch without her auto skill going off you will probably just win.

Pixies- Difficulty 7/10: Pretty annoying file to play against but you can win. Archer and mage pixy will have little effect on you. Just try to predict when they will play healer, tiere, and pixy assassin and the game will go a lot smoother if you guess right. Torte will probably be best to focus down with SS and mizette might not be sometimes since they can let her die and play her again. And finally be aware of the Liz SS.

Beltorat- Difficulty 8/10: Pretty absurd counter to gowen rush. Mostly because of Ainhazard. Basically their units will be huge, strong, all level 3-4, and have good skills. Its also pretty easy to set up. If you want to win you are gonna have to archer pixy the ainhazard and keep him out of the game as long as possible. If you can keep him out the units will usually be weak and the game will be quite easy.

Big red- Difficulty Asian mode: Maybe I'm exaggerating how tough it is to play against but it can be one of the hardest files for you to play against and it sees quite a bit of play. Dragon kin variants basically play you up over and over and archer pixy won't be enough to save you. If they are going to drop allind try to use tiere to counter it and that will have you a ton of trouble. Ones that use dilate can be a real pain since he never dies, also lets not forget that volcano wyvern will ruin your field as well. The best advice I can give is...Use open skills wisely, manage your sp the best you can between playing units/grims or iczering since you can end up with a ton of floating sp end game, backlash ball of flame and fire arrow and remember that you little units can all be destroyed at the same time fairly easily, multiple times at that.

Falkow: Your best matchup! So most of the sphere is pretty fragile hp wise which is what your file is good at blowing up. They do have some counter cards here and their and return can be pretty annoying to play against as well.

Wizard kingdom- Difficulty 5/10: So their are a ton of ways to play wizard kingdom, more ways than any other file in the game probably. It is kinda hard to label how easy it is to beat but generally you should have an easy time if you don't fall for violet's sp draining SS. Salamander picks off owl sage and sylph which can be used to assassin your big cards so if you predict an assassin SS and they have either of those out I would say try to kill them with salamander generally. If you can focus any unit down I'd say go for mage knight of regus and regus combat sorcerer since they are common threats since they give really good buffs. Generally open kurina-tiger since tidal on turn 2 can wreck your face if you play salamander on turn 2. Don't be shy to play a level 3 unit back to back if you think they want to return it. Dual axe wielder is a pretty great unit end game when they have little field presence and can seal the win for you.

Sea serpent- Difficulty 5/10: This should be pretty easy since you have hard hitting SS that can help bring all 3 serpents down. Archer pixy can troll this file early game but watch out for cyclone and you should be kay. Early mercenary is pretty scary for them as well since it can threaten sea claw and any other unit in the filed with just 1 hit.

Pirates- DIfficulty 6/10: Pretty tanky guys and can stall into a good set up. Use archer pixy right and get a beefy mercenary out early. Basically after this you will be constantly staring down 2-3 units and a bilion returns so just try to keep playing units and run them outa returns. They can have cyclone so don't overload yourself with level 2 units.

Mermaids- DIfficulty 8/10: So you won't see too many mermaid files with 3 Emana but when you do its pretty hard to beat. If you can focus her down with SS/salamander/grims the game will be a lot easier. If rhino lives he can cause some real havoc since they play a lot of units too. Mermaids are fairly tanky and have some good revival so always keep that in mind. Lets not forget they have other great open skills that heal their units or move yours. I'd say your best shot at winning is destryoing their field early so focus on that if you can and try to have more units than them at all time, salamander is generally pretty op early game in these matchups so if you can field 1-2 of him early the game can be pretty easy early game.

Grimcount- Difficluty 5/10: So personally I think this is one of the best files to play against a majority of grimcount files. Your starting units are pretty strong and cause some trouble for them too. Archer pixy locks out bigger cards if they are running a level 4 grimcount version. Spamming dual axe wielder/ rhino back to back can be pretty good if they are spamming return. They also rely on start and auto skills a lot so your SS and grims can disrupt that constantly.

Last edited by worthing on Thu Sep 12, 2013 7:37 pm, edited 5 times in total.

My highest RP was actually obtained using a modified gowen starter(rush) deck, much like the one's shown here. For all the fanciness and rare cards that my other files have, the dependencies and predictability of them leave it vulnerable to many other files, while the modified gowen rush is flexible enough to have a fighting chance against almost any file. You don't really dominate some matches like you can with other files, but you almost never feel hopeless with it either. I actually beat worthings big red once with it once =p. So I am glad this guide was written, because my first file always has a soft spot in my heart and I bet I could dust it off and get a better win percentage with it then anything else I have right now with a little practice.

unfortunately smashing my face on the keyboard produced unlikely results...that being the game froze and we just sat around for 3 hours waiting for the first guy to dc (which was me due to windows updates)yes, this is an actual bug

Icyman2 wrote:unfortunately smashing my face on the keyboard produced unlikely results...that being the game froze and we just sat around for 3 hours waiting for the first guy to dc (which was me due to windows updates)yes, this is an actual bug